YDna Results for the Descendants of Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod

This is actually the 5th page in the DNA portion of this site, you may have been directed to this page out of order - if you would like to read the pages in order to learn more about YDNA testing, the links below provide that order.

shading indicates mismatches or mutations
markers in red font are "fast" moving (mutate more frequently)

The results confirm that these three men shared a Recent Common Ancestor despite the mutations that can seen in the results. Documentation tells us "how" these three men were related and how recently their common ancestor lived.

It can be seen in the above table that despite the close relationship of the three men to each other, there were mutations among their results (shown in yellow). While it is possible that first cousins will have a perfect match at 37 markers, it is unlikely and is in fact more rare then it first appears. This is because of the nature of mutations, some slow, some fast, so it is important that we understand the mutations before we can interpret the relationships that are reflected in our DNA matches.

It is commonly believed that DNA passes unaltered from father to son for generations; while this is generally true, in "junk" DNA, which is the DNA analyzed for genetic studies, mutations do occur. The average is one mutation per 500 birth events (emerging data indicates that it may be as often as one mutation per 250 birth events). Therefore, a mutation between first cousins, as seen in the table above for Purdy and Donald Marker 32/DYS #576, is not uncommon nor does it deny the close relationship. In fact, the founder of FTDNA has one mutation that differs from his own father and his brother.

A 67 marker haplotype can typically survive for about 3.5 - 7 generations without a mutation while a 37 marker haplotype survives between 4.7 generations and a bit more than a dozen generations - our results are well within those ranges. Although our results are not typical they are not without precedent; FTDNA states that mutations occur more rapidly when an older man parents a son. Jesse Lazarus McLeod was in his late 40's when both Purdy Sr. and Donald Sr. were born. James also has a pattern of late parenting beginning in approximately the 3rd generation from the MRCA. Additionally, the surname projects are showing that certain male lines mutate at faster rates then other male lines. According to Dr. Charles F. Kerchner "

".....anecdotal evidence reported over the past few years by Genetic Genealogists indicates that the calculated average Y-STR mutation rate varies from one Y chromosome male line to another.."

".... it is speculated that the male lines which have the higher average mutation rates have a less effective Y-STR copy repair system......when it comes to Y-STR mutation rates, it is definitely not one size shoe that fits all male lines. "

This is further discussed on:

understanding the markers and mutations

The Documentation And YDNA Results

On occasion, I have received emails asking me why our results (the mutations separating our three men) don't cast doubt on our family history rather than confirm that history....this section has been added to answer that question.....

Its been my own experience and the experience of most of those early on in the project (2005) that although we expected clear concise results that would prove beyond a shadow of any doubt not only that we were related but HOW we were ralated......we quickly learned that that expectation was unrealistic.

All we really saw was that approximately 32% of men tested who bore the surname MacLeod were R1b and that approximately 30 men, then 40 men, then 60 men, then 75 men named MacLeod/McLeod shared a haplotype close enough to have descended from one founder through many different branches of that founder's family tree. We learned the center of the project were related to each other but we did not learn HOW we were related....

None of the early participants were quite close enough in genetic distance to really tell us much more than that we all shared at least one common ancestor somewhere in the past 750-800 years. I knew that the mutations were telling us something and that we could in fact learn more with more participation. So, not quite satisfied with the very limited results in our matching, I encouraged my father and our cousin James to join Purdy in this project in 2007; their results confirmed that we were not looking at the mutations and matching markers closely enough in the greater project. This sent me on a learning spree to understand more about interpreting the results of not only my own family, but the larger family MacLeod. Each marker contains certain characteristics that must be understood to correctly interpret your own results.

There are limits to the YDNA of genetics just as there are limits to paper research....paper research can tell you a great deal but it cannot tell you if the man you believe is your biological father is in fact your biological father......YDNA can really only tell if he was not your biological father - it can tell you if you are related to each other but not how you are related to each other.......now before you get frustrated and say "well what is the point then?"...read on please.

When you test YDNA, you should match with men of your own surname. Simply put, if your father wasn't your biological father then you will NOT match with men of your own surname UNLESS your bio father was a cousin, brother, father, uncle (of whatever degree) of your paper dad.

If you bio-dad was not your paper dad, you may be of a different Haplogroup entirely or may simply have too many mutations in your YDNA signture to be a match to your carried surname........ And that is the dilema we face in YDNA testing - even if you match your surname you know only that you ARE a man of that surname whose father also bore that surname...but even if you matched perfectly at all markers, DNA still can't PROVE that your dad was the McLeod who fathered you.....it can only prove if he was NOT a McLeod at all.

That is where you have to trust your family stories, your documentation of that parental relationship etc.....the YDNA has shown you that it is most likely true or it has shown you that it isn't true........

Why the DNA confirms the Ancestral Relationshp of my family:

We tested three men for whom documentation and family history shows a relationship - all three men matched with other MacLeod/McLeods - random matches with other surnames were rare and were also matched by others in the project; these random matches with other surnames fell away at higher levels of testing leaving our closest matches with other MacLeods/McLeods- we know then that each man was fathered by a McLeod. Additionally, each cousin was the other man's closest match out of all the McLeods they matched with.

My dad and Purdy are first cousins, sons of the last two sons of Jesse Lazaarus McLeod; despite the close relationship, they are a distance of 1 from each other at 67 markers - the lone mutation occurred on a "volatile" marker. Some may now question the sibling relationship of their fathers, however,

a) The founder of FTDNA is a distance of 1 from his own father and brother
b) Purdy and my Dad are their own closest matches in the entire FTDNA database as well as in the R1b MacLeod Project
c) Purdy and my Dad are two of the kits found at the center of the R1b MacLeod Project - a distance of 0 and 1 from the 13/29 & 10 haplotype and a distance of 1 & 2 from the 13/29 & 11 haplotype of the Sub Group B Related MacLeods - they are both MacLeods/McLeods

in order for the YDNA to cast doubt on the relationship one would have to assume one of the following scenarios regarding the fathers of Purdy and my dad:

1) (IF) Jesse Lazarus McLeod was the father of one man but not the other man - the other father WAS a McLeod as well.
2) (IF) Jesse Lazarus McLeod was not the father of either man - the bio father of both men was a McLeod
3) (IF) Jesse Lazarus McLeod was not the father of either man - they each had separate bio-fathers but both men were also McLeods.

or

4) The men were, as the family history and documentation state, both sons of Jesse Lazarus McLeod.

Logic indicates that the 4th scenario is the truth, family history and documentation sources this as the truth, and the YDNA results confirm that both Purdy and my Dad were sons of McLeods - YDNA cannot prove that Jesse was their grandfather because it cannot tell you HOW you are related just that you are or are not.

Included in our family history is the knowledge that Purdy's father was fostered as a child and did not himself know he was a McLeod until the age of 12. My grandfather, Donald Sr. was not raised by his family but by his Ives grandparents. When you look at the DNA beside the death certificates, the WWI draft registrations, the census records, the tax records, the probate records and the fact that family knew them as family even when they themselves didn't know it.....are the odds that they were not siblings lessened by the one mutation that separates them or enhanced by the DNA haplotype that shows that they are related to other men of the surname MacLeod?

James - Again, family history and documentation states that he is the 3rd cousin 3 times removed from both Purdy and my Dad - Despite that close relationship, James has 3 mutations in the first panel of markers from both Purdy and Dad (who match each other on that panel). At the 12 marker level, James has few matches and most are of other surnames. At the 25 marker level, he matches Dad, Purdy and the Project Haplotype exactly - those matches with other surnames fall away. At the 37 marker level, James experiences no further mutations, he now matches the combined haplotype of Dad and Purdy perfectly from markers 13 - 37 and has three new matches at this level - both of whom are Dad and Purdy's closest matches within the project (June 2 2009 Purdy just received notice of a 37/37 matche with a MacLeod of New Zealand - this man is now the third 37-3 match for James).

The YDNA has confirmed that despite the 3 mutations in the first panel of markers, James is a MacLeod/McLeod. His paternal line has a faster rate of mutation than other paternal lines - his mutations make it more difficult to determine the degree of relationship to others in the project but does NOT disprove his being related to the center of the project nor does it disprove the documentation which states he is a 3rd cousin to Purdy and my Dad. YDNA has proven the relationship but not the manner or degree of the relationship - documentation has done that. Our family Ancestral Modal Haplotype has confirmed the age of his mutations - they occurred, perhaps in one transmission or birth event, since his Earliest Common Ancestor with Purdy and my Dad - (Alexander McLeod, h/o Sarah McIntosh who was born cr. 1783 in Scotland).

By testing other descendants of John N. McLeod, husband of Kitsy Davis, we could perhaps determine more precisely where those mutations in James' paternal line occurred. We are currently trying to find a descendant of this branch of our family to participate in the project.

Our Ancestral Haplotype

The process of defining a family's ancestral Haplotype can be done using triangulation. Using the results of at least three branches, one can establish a Modal Haplotype of the Most Recent Common Ancestor.

The Ancestral Modal Haplotype of Alexander MacLeod, h/o Sarah McIntosh, and son of Angus and Nancy McCutchen MacLeod can be seen in the table below. This modal was determined by taking the most common allele(number) at each marker among our three participants.

Locus	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37
DYS#	3 9 3	3 9 0	1 9	3 9 1	3 8 5 a	3 8 5 b	4 2 6	3 8 8	4 3 9	3 8 9 i	3 9 2	3 8 9 ii	4 5 8	4 5 9 a	4 5 9 b	4 5 5	4 5 4	4 4 7	4 3 7	4 4 8	4 4 9	4 6 4 a	4 6 4 b	4 6 4 c	4 6 4 d	4 6 0	G A T A H 4	Y C A I I a	Y C A I I b	4 5 6	6 0 7	5 7 6	5 7 0	C D Y a	C D Y b	4 4 2	4 3 8
Ancestral modal of our MRCA Alexander	13	25	14	11	11	14	12	12	12	13	13	29	16	9	10	11	11	26	15	19	31	14	15	15	16	11	11	19	23	16	15	18	17	37	37	12	12

The differing colors represent the different levels of testing i.e. blue equals 12; red 25; green 37; purple 67

Locus	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67
DYS#	5 3 1	5 7 8	3 9 5 S 1 A	3 9 5 S 1 B	5 9 0	5 3 7	6 4 1	4 7 2	4 0 6 S 1	5 1 1	4 2 5	4 1 3 A	4 1 3 B	5 5 7	5 9 4	4 3 6	4 9 0	5 3 4	4 5 0	4 4 4	4 8 1	5 2 0	4 4 6	6 1 7	5 6 8	4 8 7	5 7 2	6 4 0	4 9 2	5 6 5
Ancestral Modal	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	16	8	12	22	20	15	12	11	13	11	11	12	12

Donald and Purdy tested at the full 67 marker level, while Jimmy tested only to 37 markers. Since Donald and Purdy matched exactly at markers 38 - 67 not only to each other, but to the R1b Project Hpalotpe it was not necessary for Jimmy to test at the higher level at this time.

Having established our Ancestral Modal Haplotype, we now use it in comparing our family's results to others in the project instead of using each individual result for the following reasons.

Because we know that we do not share a common ancestor with others in the project for the past 6 generations in which the mutations all took place.
Purdy's DNA results match the Ancestral Modal Haplotype of Alexander exactly.
Because of the mutations in Donald and Jimmy's lines, the matches on their individual results pages are not the same as Purdy's. I.e. Jimmy is a Gen. Distance of 3 from Purdy but a Gen. Distance of 4 from Donald...this difference in Gen. Distances repeats itself throughout all three participants results pages and places possible distant relationships outside of allowable distances for Jimmy and Donald but not for Purdy.

It was necessary to test three men in order to prove that Purdy's results were not convergent in nature to others in the MacLeod Project. By comparing our three men and determining in what generation mutations in our family have occurred, we have proven that ALL mutations occurred SINCE we last shared an ancestor with those participants with whom we have a match.

A single mutation in Donald's results at Marker 32/DYS# 576 occurred between 1847 and 1926
3 mutations in Jimmy's results occurred between 1810 and the mid 1900's. Although Jimmy does not match with us at the 12 marker level or the 25 marker level, this is called a "false negative" because he does match at 3 and 4 at the 37 marker level. Due to our being able to define our Ancestral Modal Haplotype, his lack of matches with other then 4 McLeods in the whole project is also a "false negative".

Comparison to the emerging Clan MacLeod Hypothetical Modal and to R1b (Ysearch Modal)

Locus	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37
DYS#	3 9 3	3 9 0	1 9	3 9 1	3 8 5 a	3 8 5 b	4 2 6	3 8 8	4 3 9	3 8 9 i	3 9 2	3 8 9 ii	4 5 8	4 5 9 a	4 5 9 b	4 5 5	4 5 4	4 4 7	4 3 7	4 4 8	4 4 9	4 6 4 a	4 6 4 b	4 6 4 c	4 6 4 d	4 6 0	G A T A H 4	Y C A I I a	Y C A I I b	4 5 6	6 0 7	5 7 6	5 7 0	C D Y a	C D Y b	4 4 2	4 3 8
Ancestral modal of our MRCA Alexander	13	25	14	11	11	14	12	12	12	13	13	29	16	9	10	11	11	26	15	19	31	14	15	15	16	11	11	19	23	16	15	18	17	37	37	12	12
Related MACLEOD MODAL	13	25	14	11	11	14	12	12	12	13/14	13	29/30	16	9	10/11	11	11	26	15	19	31	14	15	15	16	11	11	19	23	16	15	18	17	37	37	12	12
R1b1b2 YSEARCH MODAL	13	24	14	11	11	14	12	12	12	13	13	29	17	9	10	11	11	25	15	19	29	15	15	17	17	11	11	19	23	16	15	18	17	36	38	12	12

Locus	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67
DYS#	5 3 1	5 7 8	3 9 5 S 1 A	3 9 5 S 1 B	5 9 0	5 3 7	6 4 1	4 7 2	4 0 6 S 1	5 1 1	4 2 5	4 1 3 A	4 1 3 B	5 5 7	5 9 4	4 3 6	4 9 0	5 3 4	4 5 0	4 4 4	4 8 1	5 2 0	4 4 6	6 1 7	5 6 8	4 8 7	5 7 2	6 4 0	4 9 2	5 6 5
Ancestral modal of our MRCA Alexander	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	16	8	12	22	20	15	12	11	13	11	11	12	12
Related MACLEOD MODAL	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	16	8	12	22	20	15	12	11	13	11	11	12	12
R1b1b2 YSEARCH MODAL	11	9	15	16	8	10	10	8	10	10	12	23	23	16	10	12	12	15	8	12	22	20	13	12	11	13	11	11	12	12

Expanding our Ancestral Modal Haplotype

To confirm our Ancestral Modal Haplotype is not only that of Alexander, but also of his father, Angus MacLeod, h/o Nancy McCutchen, we should test 2 descendants from each of Alexander's two brothers, Daniel, the husband of Catherine McLean and Norman, possibly the husband of Elizabeth Lackey.

Expanding our testing to that degree would also confirm the documentation we have to date stating that Daniel was in fact the brother of Alexander and help to prove or disprove the belief that it was our Norman who was married to Elizabeth Lackey.

If you are interested in participating in the MacLeod Surname Project and descend from either, John N. McLeod, h/o Kitsy Davis, Daniel McLeod h/o Catherine McLean or Norman McLeod and Elizabeth Lackey, please email for additional information.

What our matches in the MacLeod Project tell us.....

Using the Ancestral Modal Haplotype (Purdy's DNA results), we have matches with descendants of the early immigrants from Skye to North Carolina, men who live in Scotland today, and with several descendants of the Scots who settled Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island in 1800's. These matches are discussed on the next page.

A Closer Look at our Matches

This is actually the 5th page in the DNA portion of this site, you may have been directed to this page out of order - if you would like to read the pages in order, the links below provide that order.

1. Overview of the Clan MacLeod Project / 2. Clan MacLeod Project Modal Haplotype (Hypothetical) / 3. Ancestral Modal Haplotypes /

4. Understanding the Markers and Mutation Rates / 5. THIS PAGE / 6. A Closer Look at our matches / 7. Current Conclusions

NEW PAGES : Full Result Table / Sub Group B Results Table / Branching Table / LCF Rates Table / Frequently Asked Questions / Mutation Rates

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